When I was shooting 240gr MK's, I was using 93-94gr of H50BMG in my 300RUM so his 85gr of H1000 is about right. Pressures are certainly up there no doubt but if anything like my rifle, not insanely high. How long was his pipe?
Didn't see the gun specs but if he was shooting an unlimited gun, they can weigh a ton. A muzzle brake would really help tame the push too.
I bet he didn't use MK's straight out of the box and after all the sorting, trimming and mucking about, they are as good as custom. Some historical lots of these bullets have had up to 50% cull rate. A big reason that the 240gr MK was pulled from production for a while. I guess things have been sorted out.....maybe.
As for brass life, that is not surprising. He is likely running in the 70,000psi range which for a zero tolerance rig and strong brass means very long case life. It is not uncommon for a short range BR shooter to toss his barrel BEFORE his brass.
Most never see this because there is enough slop in the actions to allow cases to grow (all commercial solid front locking bolts have this problem). With resizing there is enormous strain on the case head/web and eventually things split. Also, all that slop allows a case head to stretch making the primer pockets too big.
I think we need to put Leepers words in perspective. This was a smoking, super amazing group but it is ONE GROUP. As was said, he has always been close but a shot out here and there has kept him from a record ( as it has for many top level shooters). Is he a good shot? does he have great gear? You bet but I expect the agg to be more inline with shooting in the 3/8 to 1/2 MOA range.
Somedays we all miss into the same group.
As for seeing your shots, the new MARCH scopes are supposed to be a huge step forward towards seeing large cal holes at 1000yds. They have worked well enough to see 6mm holes at 600yds under most conditions in the BLACK so they might just see a 30 or 338 holes out at 1000yds????
They are expensive but no more then the S&B's (actually less) and if they have that level of optical quality, a must have for group shooters. The last ingredient to getting groups in the 3's, maybe the 2's on a regular basis at 1000yds.
Shot one, drive the rest.
It seems that in LR BR, the way to shoot is to get the rds down range as quickly as possible to minimize condition shifting. Refered to as machine gunning or gunning, the top shooters can rattle off 10rds in as little as 25secs. There are youtube vids of them blasting away...unbelieveable.
The rests and gear used are so well engineered that the gun is really a rail gun without the rails. BRING MONEY!!!!
If a shooter spends enough time in the accuracy game, great groups will happen. I have shot a few hummers with my 6.5 mystic and 7RM which has been very exciting. Do it all the time? I wish...
Jerry
and purge!
